


every iteration, not the same

by mollivanders



Category: Lost
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-06
Updated: 2010-09-06
Packaged: 2017-10-30 11:05:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollivanders/pseuds/mollivanders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Jack talks about the island, Sawyer punches him out and Juliet leaves their dingy hotel to walk around the city at night. After six years of smoke monsters and an island she can’t leave without permission, she’s taken to leaving without warning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	every iteration, not the same

**Author's Note:**

> **Title: every iteration, not the same**  
>  Rating: PG  
> Characters: Jack/Juliet/Sawyer  
> Spoilers/Warnings: Through Season 5.  
> Summary: In this reset, at the end of Season 4 it's Jack, Juliet, and Sawyer who make it off the island. Word Count - 535.  
> Disclaimer: LOST belongs to _ABC_ , I own nothing.

The first time Jack talks about the island, Sawyer punches him out and Juliet leaves their dingy hotel to walk around the city at night. After six years of smoke monsters and an island she can’t leave without permission, she’s taken to leaving without warning.

She’s not ever sure if she’ll come back (James always convinces her otherwise). He finds her at all-night diners and pier boardwalks, abandoned bars and one time, a bullfight. Never asks why she left, just takes her hand and cocks his head toward the exit.

Juliet goes with him like she doesn’t know what he’s got planned.

It turns out every diner has a bathroom, every small-town stadium has bleachers to hide under, every flea market has a parking lot. Every time, he makes her remember with a promise and a curse. _Come back to me._

Where Jack wants the island back, James just wants Juliet. The people they left behind, the ones still trapped there, he won’t focus on it. She never brings it up, lets Jack do all the dirty work, but she understands the desire all the same.

She won’t ever go back though.

Every town is different but the same – Jack always wants to stay near the ocean and James always wants to stay anonymous – and Juliet starts to forget what it’s like to work out of fear, to use her skills and to watch women die. Her hands still itch for purpose.

Juliet doesn’t believe in miracles she can’t touch or feel anymore, but when their old car starts to break down every few trips she’s almost grateful. She figures it’s the same as fixing people (something she forgot how to do a long time ago). 

The first time she fixes the car on the side of the freeway, James smirks in surprise but loops his fingers through her oil-greased ones, pulls her close. Jack stands between them and the noisome draft from the cars racing by, but they barely make it to the next hotel before Juliet wants to forget how to fix things, pulls James down with her and lets him bring her back around while Jack disappears, returns later with dinner.

It turns out the doctor makes a fierce lasagna for three.

It’s a museum, the next time she leaves them, but James finds her anyway in the natural history section, old bones piled up around them. She’s not shaking, not quite, but she can’t take her eyes off the polar bear exhibit, and when James tries to put an arm around her she shirks away.

She’s not the one who needs saving (she knows it).

 _We have to go back for them,_ she explains in a rush. Can’t name them all but knows they’re still there, knows what it’s like to accept the cage give to you. _We can’t just leave them, James._

Whatever the reason, James doesn’t disagree, just leads her to the adjoining theatre and this time, she drags the words out of him herself. _Come back to me. Come back to me._

The next time Jack brings the island up, Sawyer shares a look with Juliet but looks back at Jack.

_What do you suggest, doc?_


End file.
